On Tuesday, the Association of Costa Rican Free Zones (AZOFRAS) denied that the motion of exemptions approved to the bill to Strengthen of Public Finance gives them greater benefits.
The motion on exonerations does not generate any new privilege or prerogative for companies in the free zone, but rather maintains the conditions currently existing for local purchases made to national companies, and which produce a positive productive chain that stimulates the national economy,”
stated the organization.
Jorge Brenes, president of AZOFRAS, added that maintaining the motion provides stability and legal security for the regime and is a good sign to continue attracting foreign investment.
If the incentive to local purchases made by the free zone companies is affected, it would be favored that, instead of buying from Costa Rican companies, the goods and services required be imported, directly affecting the production chains that benefit so much from this. They leave Costa Rica. Therefore, it is very important to preserve the incentive and the commitments of the country to these companies,”
said Brenes.
The head of the organization believes the free zone regime is a socially profitable productive model to which legal security must be guaranteed in order to maintain the positive impact it has in Costa Rica.
Brenes echoed the words by legislator Carlos Ricardo Benavides, who argued that
the intention (of the motion) was not to generate any circumstance of privilege, but to avoid a stampede or loss of enthusiasm in those who are investing in the country today.”
The hierarch clarified that, in accordance with the current regulations, every free zone company that makes sales in the local market, must pay all the legal taxes applicable to imports, inculuding VAT.
The free zone companies generate more than 100 thousand direct jobs, and another 50 thousand arising from productive chains that benefit small, medium, and large companies. The purchases from the free zone, to more than 10 thousand local suppliers, are equivalent to 38% of the total of their purchases of inputs and services. Data from the Central Bank indicate that the more than 350 companies covered by the Free Zone Regime contributed 7% of the GDP in 2017.